Football: Pochettino savours Spurs win

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino was satisfied with his side’s display as they cruised past QPR with a 4-0 win at White Hart Lane.
A double from Nacer Chadli and an Eric Dier header gave the hosts a comfortable lead going into half-time, before Emmanuel Adebayor wrapped things up after the break when he hit a fourth.
Despite signs of second-half improvement from QPR, Spurs were rarely tested and Pochettino was glad to get his first home win on the board as they moved top of the fledgling Premier League table.
Pochettino told Sky Sports: “I’m very pleased with the performance of the team.
“It’s very important, we wanted to get the three points today and put in a good performance. I’m very pleased with the players.
“We have a very good squad – today we had to pick 18 players and other players have to wait for the opportunity.
“But we have an unbelievable squad. We believe in them.”
Erik Lamela started out wide for Spurs and was impressive throughout, particularly during the first half when he cut through the QPR defence to set up Chadli’s second.
The 22-year-old endured a difficult first season in England following his £30million switch from Roma last summer, but Pochettino says it was just a case of adapting to the Premier League.
“It’s different, a second season. When players come from another league or another country, they need more time,” he said.
“But we’re happy and looking forward to Saturday.”
Young defender Eric Dier, a summer signing from Sporting Lisbon, was the match-winner at West Ham on the opening day and he kept up his goalscoring exploits with a thundering first-half header.
Pochettino said: “Two games and he’s scored in both. We’re very pleased for him.
“He’s English and he’s still young. We’ll be careful with him but he showed he’s full of confidence and he showed that he’s mature. He’s still young, he will develop.”
Pochettino also hailed the importance of another clean sheet for his side as they limited QPR to only a handful of openings on goal.
“It’s very important for the confidence and for the team taking shape, it’s good,” he said.
“We are only in the beginning of the season but it’s good for our confidence. We need to develop and we need to improve more to achieve our goals.”
Sevilla defender Federico Fazio has been linked with a switch to White Hart Lane this summer, but when asked about a move for the 27-year-old, Pochettino refused to give anything away.
He said: “A lot of names have been linked with us, I never talk about individuals.”